KPMG index measures 140 countries' ability to respond to change

Asia Pacific countries and jurisdictions are generally improving in handling climate change, according to the 2019 KPMG Change Readiness Index (CRI). Singapore climbed two levels to be ranked No. 2, while Taiwan is up 18 places.

The CRI, now in its fourth year of biannual publication, ranks 140 countries* on how effectively they prepare for, and respond to, major change events. This edition of the report focuses on the capabilities countries need to successfully address climate change and mitigate associated risks.

Timothy Stiles, Global Chair of KPMG's International Development Assistance Services, commented: "Climate change is among the most pressing issues we face as a global society. Those countries failing to recognise the impact of climate change are likely to be unprepared for its growing costs, which will be levied on citizens, businesses and economies around the world. Our 2019 report aims to demonstrate that there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to responding to major change.

"Our research highlights that too many nations can be reliant on either business, government or civil society to shoulder the responsibility for change readiness, but in our experience this doesn't yield the best long term results. True preparedness is when each segment of society - enterprise, government, and people and civil society - works in harmony toward a shared outcome."

The CRI top 20 countries and jurisdictions (with the change in ranking from 2017)

Switzerland

Singapore (+2)

Denmark (+2)

Sweden (-2)

UAE (-2)

Norway (+5)

Germany (+2)

UK (+2)

New Zealand (-3)

Netherlands (-3)

Qatar is now in 12th place (+7); Australia is 14th (no change in ranking) while Hong Kong fell two places to 15th. Taiwan is 17th (+18), and Japan (+3) is 18th.

The CRI measured each country across three key pillars of capability: enterprise sustainability, government as well as people and civil society. Enterprise sustainability, which looks at the private sector's role in rising to the challenge of national preparedness and response to climate change and environmental degradation. Measures for enterprise sustainability include CO2 emissions per unit of GDP, and the share of renewable energy in use by a country.

The 2019 index revealed that countries most susceptible to climate risks are mostly low-income and lower-middle income countries. Less mature economies like Afghanistan are the worst-performing in climate resilience, as are countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The majority of higher income economies are considered low risk, high readiness countries.

This year's report reveals that poorer countries face double jeopardy when it comes to climate change: a higher risk from the negative impacts of climate change and a lower capacity to implement climate-ready policies and institutions.


Explore:

Learn more about the CRI and how each country performed

^*All uses of the word 'country' or 'countries' in the 2019 CRI refer to both countries and jurisdictions. The term country is used for brevity.

The CRI is built on research and analysis on primary source data and from more than 1,400 experts and secondary sources including the World Economic Forum, World Bank International Monetary Fund and the UN.

Eight MDBs to accelerate transport emission mitigation efforts

Eight multilateral development banks (MDBs) today issued a joint statement committing to accelerate their efforts to mitigate transport emissions and recognising the need for more action on the resilience of transport to climate change. The sector accounts for about 60% of global oil consumption, 27% of all energy use, and 23% of world energy-related CO² emissions.

In their statement, the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), CAF-Development Bank of Latin America, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank (ISDB), and the World Bank (WB) pledged to speed up action on:

- MDBs have recently committed to substantially increase financing for climate change mitigation and adaptation over the next few years. Transport is expected to play a key role in that commitment.

- The MDBs will increase their focus on low-carbon transport solutions and will continue to harmonise tools and metrics to assess transport-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

- Adaptation: The MDBs will jointly develop a systematic approach to mainstream climate resilience in transport policies, plans and investments.

“We, the multilateral development banks, believe that climate change is a defining challenge of our time. Actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stabilise warming at two degrees Celsius will fall short if they do not include the transport sector. We commit to support countries in the implementation of sustainable transport solutions by providing critically needed financial and technical support to assist them in responding to rising aspirations for greater mobility and connectivity, in a sustainable and resilient way,” said Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter-American Development Bank.

Moreno presented the statement on behalf of the eight MDBs during the Transport segment of the Lima Paris Action Agenda. Among the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions submitted as of November 12, 2015, about three quarters explicitly identify the transport sector as a mitigation source, and more than two thirds propose transport sector-specific mitigation measures. In 2012, the MDBs pledged US$175 billion by 2022 in financial resources for more sustainable transport.

“Asia’s burgeoning cities and remote communities alike need low-carbon, climate-resilient transport systems to thrive. ADB will prioritise bus and metro systems in cities, pedestrian and cycle pathways, and long distance railways to reduce emissions and congestion while providing safe and efficient transport in Asia,” said Bambang Susantono, ADB Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development.

"Supporting our member countries to develop efficient transport systems that are climate smart and resilient is a major goal for us. We will work together with other MDBs to ensure that we come up with innovative solutions that will help reduce carbon emissions,” said Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of IsDB.

"Transport must be a significant piece of the climate solution. We have the opportunity to transform transportation services so they are low-carbon and resilient to climate impacts. Now is the time to turn our commitments into action and we stand ready to work with countries as they develop low carbon and climate-resilient transport activities,” said Laura Tuck, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development.

posted from Bloggeroid

Bhutan improves business climate significantly in 2015

Efforts to improve the business climate in Bhutan accelerated during the past year and have helped it to be the highest ranking country in the South Asia Region at 71 out of 189 countries ranked worldwide, says the World Bank Group’s annual ease of doing business measurement.

Doing Business 2016: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency, finds that Bhutan instituted two reforms during the past year. In Getting Electricity, Bhutan made it easier for entrepreneurs to connect to the grid by speeding up the process for obtaining a new connection. Five years ago, it took an entrepreneur 93 days to get electricity, now it only takes 61- less time than in France. Bhutan also implemented a reform in the Registering Property indicator through which transferring property has been streamlined by introducing a computerised land information system, decreasing the time to complete a transfer by 15 days.

“Bhutan has been advancing steadily in recent years in improving its regulatory environment and making it more business friendly. In doing so, the country can stimulate both entrepreneurship and job creation for its population,” said Genevieve Boyreau, the World Bank’s Country Representative for Bhutan.

“Through thoughtful and well-executed policies and reforms that support improvements in the business environment, Bhutan has the potential to foster a dynamic and expanding private sector that will help realize its development aspirations. The World Bank supports in Bhutan a better investment climate for private sector through a series of Development Policy Credits and technical assistance.”

This year’s Doing Business report completes a two-year effort to expand benchmarks that measure the quality of regulation, as well as efficiency of the business regulatory framework, in order to better capture realities on the ground. In the report, five indicators saw changes - Dealing with Construction Permits, Getting Electricity, Enforcing Contracts, Registering Property and Trading across Borders. For example, the indicators on Dealing with Construction Permits which previously measured the procedures, time and cost to comply with the formalities to build a warehouse now also measures, through the Building Quality Control index, good practices in construction regulation.

Bhutan performs well on this new index scoring 13 out of 15- the same score as Ireland. The economy also scores well on the new index for Registering Property, Quality of Land Administration. The score of 24 out of 30 indicates Bhutan has a high quality of infrastructure for ensuring the reliability of information on property titles and boundaries as well as a high level of geographic coverage in land ownership registration and cadastral mapping (Editor's note: mapping that outlines the boundaries of a country).

The World Bank strategy in Bhutan focuses on improving rural livelihoods and managing urbanisation while protecting its natural assets. It has currently committed US$191 million in concessional development credits, a number of technical assistance grants and analytical work for these areas to improve fiscal and spending efficiency, fostering private sector growth and competitiveness and supporting green development. Private sector development is one of the key priorities of the World Bank Group in Bhutan, through supporting a good environment for private sector investment and job creation.

Interested?

Read the full report and accompanying datasets

Beautycare to follow changing weather conditions

Mintel Beauty & Personal Care (BPC) has identified seasonality as a new global beauty trend. The concept refers to how specific weather conditions defines beauty regimens.

Source: Mintel website.

According to Mintel BPC, seasonal products accounted for as many as 11.1% of all beauty and personal care launches in 2014, up from 9.8% in 2011. Additionally, seasonal facial skincare launches rose from 0.5% of global launches in 2009 to 1.2% in 2014.

Jane Henderson, Global President of Mintel’s Beauty and Personal Care Division at Mintel, said, “Our research shows that consumers are becoming increasingly aware of – and concerned about – how changes in the environment are affecting the condition of their skin and hair. Already, beauty manufacturers have started to go beyond taking simple seasonal approaches geared to public holidays or gifting occasions and instead are taking on the elements within their product innovation.”

Highlighting a gap in the market, Mintel’s exclusive consumer research reveals the strong global consumer demand for skincare launches that tap into changing seasons. Almost half (48%) of Chinese female facial skincare users choose products from different brands in different seasons.

Vivienne Rudd, Director of Insight, Beauty and Personal Care at Mintel, said, “A new generation of winter care products offer additional care and hydration for the skin. These tend to target dry or very dry skin and mention cold, dry weather. However, the future will see the arrival of boosters that address cold, damp weather as well as the extremes of dryness. Meanwhile, extreme summer conditions are calling for products which protect the skin from heat and humidity as well as UV damage, and which build up resilience against the forthcoming autumnal changes. By creating these seasonal options, brands have a chance of building year-round loyalty.”

Seasonal haircare is coming to the fore, Mintel notes. “Today, we have a number of generic seasonal skincare and haircare launches, but in the future we expect a new generation of products targeting specific skin and hair issues. These product introductions have the opportunity to address concerns that have arisen due to climatic conditions and seasonal stresses, varying their textures, building up seasonal ingredient profiles and selecting appropriate fragrance blends,” Rudd said.

“Seasonal approaches in beauty also extend to ingredients harvested at the most opportune time, while seasonal boosters and complementary teas and tonics will join mainstream collections. The seasonal issue will have an impact on global launch programmes. With the seasons arriving in different geographic zones at different times, colour cosmetics brands will have to take a more time-sensitive approach to their seasonal colour stories, while skincare and haircare brands may have to stagger their launch programmes more accurately. Beauty brands will also take cues from localised seasons such as the Monsoon in Southeast Asia to launch relevant and eye catching products.”

Asians grapple with comfort with air conditioning

Hong Kong startup Ambi Labs has launched a crowdsourcing campaign for Ambi Climate, an add-on to optimise an air conditioning (AC) environment based on feedback from ten markets in Asia over two years. 

Source: Ambi Labs.

The company conducted online surveys across ten key markets in Asia with over 4,000 respondents, and has found that the primary AC challenge is in maintaining comfortable conditions, while high costs and the carbon footprint are also concerns.

Overall, 72% of respondents in the region identified with at least one AC usage issue, such as finding the room too warm, too cool, too dry or too humid at times.

Ambi Labs' research indicates that these difficulties are largely due to the outdated design of existing AC remotes. "Current remote controls encourage the user to focus on power and temperature buttons, so it is unsurprising that many users engage in inefficient on/off control behaviour - they switch on their ACs when they are hot, and switch them off when it gets too cold. The resulting 'yo yo-ing' in temperature, as some of our research participants called it, is both uncomfortable and a waste of energy. They have also complained about needing to adjust their ACs as much as every 30 minutes," said Julian Lee, Founder and CEO of Ambi Labs. 

Ambi Climate is designed to manage the AC while minimising energy consumption with machine learning techniques. According to the company, the product can predict conditions in the area, remember user preferences, local weather patterns and the building's heating and cooling profile. 

"Recently, several learning thermostats and AC controllers have appeared on the market, but most of these predict the schedule of the user, i.e. when they are home and when they are out, and automatically switch the AC on and off to match. Our research shows that this isn't a challenge in Asia - users typically switch on their ACs when they need them, and do not need help in this regard," said Lee.

The funding campaign ends in August.